How i quit smoking by going in the opposite direction, and why it worked

Note, this is not a marketing website, i am not affiliated with anyone, i do not make money by promoting any specific product here, if i do make money, it would be from advertisements clearly marked as advertisements, this is all the information that made my attempt to quit smoking a successful one, i wish to share it because everyone on the internet gave me instructions that made my attempts to quit smoking torture and i want to share this with you, i do not sell e-books, or motivate you, i don’t even want to motivate you because i would be putting you face to face with your insecurities that are part of the brain’s internal survival instincts (you don’t stand a chance as you may have seen before), the only way to win this is to work around it, and i think i have been successful at doing that.

My story in a few lines

I try to quit smoking on Jan, 1st of every year, as well as February 1st, April 1st, and even December 1st, by noon, i am back to smoking, but this time something is different, i sat down and made really good list of feelings that pull me back, and done a deep psycho-analysis (As if i know how a psycho-analysis is done ) and now things are working magically !

You should understand that i have come to the following central conclusion on smoking, and once i actively dealt with the main cause (Not by convincing myself because that won’t work), quitting smoking became a piece of cake, simple, easy, and best of all rational.

The theory, my central conclusion: It is fear, insecurity, and a Freud’s pleasure principle that make quitting smoking hell, it is NOT the addiction, NOT the habit, and NOT the oral gratification, But the fear of needing them and not finding them.

Here are the guidelines i used based on the above theory and they worked like a dream.

Method.

1- Divide and conquer, i think that dividing the task into 2 parts, Getting rid of the habit, then getting rid of the addiction is a good plan, we start with the habit by taking nicotine orally through melting mint tablets, then once we are comfortable that we no longer have the habit, start reducing the nicotine dose gradually.

I am sure that Nicotine chewing gum, Nicotine patches, and other sources of nicotine work just as well, i decided on Nicotinell because it did not irritate my gums like the chewing gum, while the nicotine patches left color marks on my skin and gave me an itch and an allergy (I seem to be allergic to the trans-dermal substance or The substance they dilute the nicotine in so that it penetrates the skin).

Guidelines, and the rational behind them

please notice that i have tried almost everything, i quit smoking every month… this is my first different attempt, and it is also my first successful one, it is painless up to now (My third day almost over).

1- Keep a closed pack of cigarettes on your desk, in your pocket, or wherever you used to have it when you were a smoker, don’t smoke it, but keep it handy, or even visible to you at all times.

Reason: The insecurity associated with not having a pack of cigarettes handy is a constant reminder of smoking, but that is not even the beginning, Your brain panics when there are no cigarettes and you trigger a pleasure displeasure conflict, sooner than you think you are convinced you won’t last 10 minutes, you need cigarettes, this is an illusion that becomes so real if you don’t have a pack handy, remember this pack should not be opened at all unless you decide to cave in, and remember, caving in for the day is not the end of the world, although i advise you to do your best to win it on the first attempt, you can always start again on the first of every month.

The first of every month is important, don’t go over again the next day, the penalty of a month until next attempt date gives you motivation to do your best in every attempt, if you smoke today quit tomorrow, then smoke tomorrow quit the day after, your motivation to make your attempt a successful one is limited because the penalty is small (1 day), if you need to wait for 29 days until next attempt, you probably want to get it right.

2- You can’t imagine life without cigarettes

“I don’t imagine myself doing this without a cigarette” your brain tells you

the truth is, this is your brain’s fear due to dependence, brain invokes fear to protect nicotine interests, with the pills, and a pack of cigarettes in sight to keep the brain at ease and feeling secure should help your brain slowly get over the “no-cigarette-phobia”

I used Nicotinell Nicotine tablets “Lozenge”, you suck on the pill as it releases nicotine that gets absorbed in the mouth, notice that this irritates your intestines a bit, you may get diarrhea for first day, and in my case, i felt nothing on the second, everything was fine… maybe the diarrhea had nothing to do with the medication, but i am just sharing my experience.

4- Although the manufacturer recommended 8-12 tablets a day, i only used 3 or 4 (i meant to use 8-12 but ended up using 4), i had packs of 1- Smint, 2- Halls, Dirol, and other similar stuff handy.

What to do when you want a cigarette now

Put one of the nicotine pills / Lozenges in your mouth and let it dissolve while keeping the pack of cigarettes in sight… do not take the pack of cigarettes away, the pill for some reason does not work without feeling that you have a cigarette handy in case the pill fails, the pill will not fail as long as you don’t frighten yourself by hiding your pack of cigarettes.

6- I can’t keep my mouth shut, i take the pills so i should not be eating more as a nicotine withdrawal symptom, but i constantly feel like eating.

Got some melting sugar free sweets and keep one in your mouth all the time, chewing gum will probably fix this problem too, but don’t go for the nicotine pills for oral gratification, that is not what they are for, and that will make stage 2 (Getting rid of addiction) almost impossible as you will become much more addicted.

You should NOT consume more than 1 nicotine pill every one and a half hours, i currently feel like one every 3 hours, if you feel like it more often than once every one and a half hours, this is not the addiction, this is your oral gratification problem.

——————————–

About Nicotine Lozenges

On the first day of this successful (Up to now) attempt to quit smoking, a felt like a cigarette badly, i woke up with a resolution that i did not plan the day before, and my head feels very heavy, should i reach for a cigarette, i answered myself, YES, but let me try that chewing gum one last time, i got to the pharmacy and asked for the chewing gum (That previously irritated my mouth so much), and the pharmacist gave me the nicotine pills (A.K.A. Lozenges or Nicotine Drop), they seem to be much more benign than the Chewing gum, and they also seem to taste like mint too… the mouth irritation is there, but it is nowhere close to the Chewing gum, in fact i like the little irritation because it tells me “We are getting this much nicotine now)……

Although i used Nicotinell, i found a few other Lozenges brands online

Nicotine Polacrilex 4-mg. Lozenge – Mint (108-pk.)
Walgreens Stop Smoking Aid Nicotine Lozenges 4mg,Mint 108-pk
Equate: Stop Smoking Aid Nicotine Lozenge Nicotine Polacrilex 2-mg. Lozenge – Mint (72-pk.)
Rite Aid Stop Smoking Aid, Nicotine Lozenges, 4 mg, Mint Flavor 72 ea

So the bottom line, i like the one i found, others may be better, identical or worse, but it seems Lozenges are the most convenient way to go.

So, in the case of my Nicotinell, here are some things you should take note of, remember that there are nicotine patches that can do plenty for you if the Lozenges end up annoying you